


Goodnight

by Starofwinter



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 17:17:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18056756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: Grace always checks on her children after bedtime.





	Goodnight

Grace always checks on her children after bedtime.  She’s always done it, despite Reginald’s expressions of frustration, when they were little, and she doesn’t intend to stop just because they’ve grown up.

Number One - Luther - sleeps on his back, peaceful and relaxed.  He can take care of himself; he’s always been the strong one, both physically and mentally.  He’s confident, though that’s been shaken recently, with the revelation of Reginald’s coldness.   Still, he sleeps just like he always has. Grace presses a kiss to his forehead, pulls the blankets up to cover him, and goes to the next room.

Number Two - Diego - is the opposite of Luther; it’s why they make such a good team when they aren’t fighting one another.  He makes himself small, and Grace knows there’s a knife in the hand tucked under his pillow as he curls up in bed. His brows are furrowed, and she leaves a kiss to smooth the line between them.  He’s grown so much, her Diego, and she’s so proud of him. She turns off the light beside his bed, and steps out.

Number Three - Allison - is exactly the opposite in sleep as she is awake.  When she’s awake, she’s composed, every movement precise and schooled; she’d taken well to the spotlight because of it.  Asleep though, she’s chaos, her hair a soft cloud around her as she sprawls out over the bed, taking up every inch of it as she relaxes and lets go of the elegant facade she always wears.  She’s smiling in her sleep, and Grace smiles with her before she kisses her cheek, tucks her in, and goes to the next room. 

Number Four - Klaus - has changed.  He used to sleep like Allison, all loose limbs and more of the wild personality he has when he’s awake, but now he sleeps curled up like Diego, and he whimpers in his sleep, one hand tangled in his curls, the other clutching at a pair of dog tags.  She doesn’t know what happened, but she sits at the edge of his bed, shushing him as she tries to soothe away the nightmares that keep him from sleeping. He relaxes, his breathing slows down, and Grace smiles as she carefully loosens the tight grip that’s nearly cutting his hand open on the edges of the tags in his hand.  She smoothes out the blankets, wrapping them closer around him, before she leaves a butterfly-light kiss on his forehead and leaves him to sleep.

Number Five is sleeping sprawled out halfway on top of Dolores, wrapping himself protectively around her.  He sleeps the way he did when he was- before he left, all long legs and arms he hasn’t quite grown into yet, utterly unconcerned with anything at all.  A half-eaten peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich sits on the bedside table, with a half-finished glass of milk. He snores, and Grace smiles, walking over to kiss his cheek before she slips out to the next room.

Number Six - Ben - isn’t there.  His room is empty, the way it has been for long enough that she shouldn’t bother to check.  She hasn’t stopped though. Stopping would be too close to ignoring him, like he was never there, and she can’t do that.  She leaves the light on, just the way he always liked, and leaves the blankets pulled back, still ready for him. She rests a hand on his pillow and says, “Goodnight, Ben,” the way she always has, before she goes to the next room.

Number Seven - Vanya - is curled up, small and still, the way she’s always slept.  She doesn’t have Allison’s natural grace, and she’s always made herself so  _ small _ in comparison to the other children, no thanks to Reginald.  Grace wants to believe he tried, but instead of teaching her to control her powers, he’d been afraid.  He’d taken them away from her and let her blame herself, and it had crushed her beneath the weight of secrets that weren’t hers.  Even in sleep, she makes herself small, trying not to take up any more space than necessary. She does relax though, as Grace gives her the same goodnight kiss as everyone else and tucks her in.  “Mom?” She’s still mostly asleep, so Grace shushes her and brushes her messy hair back, leaving her to sleep.

Grace might have been created to be little more than a nanny, but these are her children now, and she won’t leave them just because they’ve grown up.


End file.
